Cylinder support means for rotary printing machine



Dec. 15, 1964 CYLINDER SUPPORT MEANS FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINE 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 15, 1962 mQE vQE

I IIII I vu mm J. LIME Dec. 15, 1964 CYLINDER SUPPORT MEANS FOR ROTARYPRINTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 15 1962 Dec. 15, 1964 I J.LIME 3,161,127

CYLINDER SUPPORT MEANS FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 15, 1962 ssheets-sheet a i I lL FIG.6

United States Patent ()filice in 3.16 7 I CYLINDER; SUPPORT MEAN S FGR-RGTARY PRINTJNG MAGHINE Jean Lime, Haut-Rhine, France, assignor to-Societa Alsacienne de- ConstructionsMechaniques, Haunt-Rhine,

F aucaa qmpanx tE nce Filed Jan. 19.62, Ser, No. 166,012Claimsprjprity,application. France Jan. 18, 1961 C. aimS=. (Cl.- 101-53).

This invention relates to rotary machines for printing on webs of fabricand, other flexible sheet materials, of

the type in which the web is passed around. a backingv cylinder usuallycomprise a tank adapted to contain P in fluid. f a en ol r, a u oll ppin the tank and tangentially engaging the pattern cylinder and one ormore s'queegees engaging the surface. of the pattern cylinder.

' In prior printing machines of this kind, it was generally necessaryprior to setting the machine in operation for a particular printingprocess to perform a relatively com-. plicatedsequence of steps. Theprinting cylinders, each in the form of a hollow cylindrical patternr011 removably fitted over a shaft carrying a coaxial drive gear, had:to be placed in position in the bearings provided therefor on themachine frame. The colour tanks, supply cylinders and Squeegees hadeach, to be fitted in posi-. t-ion. Accurate adjustments had then. to bemade on the machine to ensure circumferential and axial register of eachthe pattern cylinder relative to the common central backing roll overwhich, the web was to be fed. Finally the tanks had be filled with therespective printing liquids. At every change in pattern, or any changein colour on the pattern, the aforementioned components had to bedismounted, and cleaned and remounted, or replaced with cleancomponents. All such operations were time consuming and considerablyreduced the elficiency of a printing process.

More recently it has been suggested in order to simplify the abovepreparatory procedure, to provide each printing assembly including aprinting cylinder, colour tank, squeegee means and drive and adjustingmeans, as a separate, bodily detachable unit. However a serious drawbackof this otherwise practical arrangement has been that it provided nomeans of avoiding the necessity of eifecting an axial register adjustingoperation each time such a printing assembly unit was remounted on themachine frame. Now such axial register adjustment is a rather tediousoperation requiring a substantial amount of trial and error andinvolving a waste of a non-negligable length of fabric web.

It is an object of this invention to eliminate this limitation, and toprovide a printing machine of the type described having bodilydetachable printing assembly units in which the axial registeradjustment will not be destroyed every time such a unit is taken downand remounted or replaced with another unit, but will instead bepreserved. Other objects will appear.

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a machine forprinting on a web of material comprising a frame; a backing roll mountedon the frame and adapted to receive said web therearound; at least onebodily detachable printing assembly comprising a pat- 3,l5l,l27 PatentedDec. 15, 1964 tern cylinder having a pair of opposite journals, bearingmembers rotatably surrounding the respective journals, and means forsupplying printing liquid to said cylinder attached, to saidbearingmembers; bearing supports on the machine. frame adapted to;receive. the bearing members of a printing assembly removably therein;means on. the frame operative. to engage. the assembly in themountedcondition thereof to drive the cylinder in rotation, and. to urge thecylinder against the roll; means, for adjusting the axial position. ofth P inting cylinder relative tov the frame; and means for indexingitheadjusted position.

In one embodiment, the bearing members are fixed in axial positionrelative to, the cylinder journals and the axial adjusting means.comprise means for adjusting the axial position of at least one of thebearing members relative to the related bearing support.

In another embodiment, the bearing members are ad-. justahle in axialposition. relative to the cylinder journals and said axial adjustingmeans comprise means for ad.- justing the axial position of a least oneof saidv bearing members relative to the related, journal.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described forpurposes of illustration with. reference to the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG, 1 is an elevational. view of part of an improved printing machineshowing a portion of a common backing roll and a single printingassembly in operative position on the machine.

FIG. 2 is a view on a vertical plane normal to the plane of FIG. 1partly in section on. line H of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3. is a partial view in horizontal section. on line III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a large-scale view showing a detail of the axial adjustingmeans shown in. FIG. 3;

FIG; 5 is a partial view generally corresponding to that of FIG, 1 butrelating to a modified embodiment of the invention; and

FIG, 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 on line VI--VI of FI 5Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the rotary printing assembly illustratedcomprises a pair of spaced bracket supports 1 and 1a upstanding from aconventional machine frame not shown, and rotatably supporting betweenthem an etched pattern cylinder 2. Adjacent the pattern cylinder issupported on the frame, through means not shown, a large diameterbacking roll. 3, and the, or each, printing cylinder 2 is pressedresiliently against the surface of the backing roll 3 by means presentlydescribed.

The etched pattern printing cylinder 2 is recessed and removably. fittedaround a core shaft 4 provided with aligned opposite journals 5. and 6which are respectively received in bearing members 7 and 8. The bearingmembers 7 and 8 are freely received in recesses 11 and 12 formed in thebrackets 1 and 1a. Resilient pressure is exerted on both bearingsmembers 7 and 8 in a horizontal direction transverse to the cylinderaxis for applying the printing cylinder against the backing roll, bymeans of a pair of sliding carriages one of which is shown at 13, andeach carrying a part-spherical cradling element 14 which receives withinit a complementary part-spherical convex surface formed on each of thebearing members 7 and 3 as clearly seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. Any suitablemeans, here shown as hydraulic jacks 16, are provided to exert force onthe carriages 1-3 in a direction to urge the printing cylinder assemblyagainst the backing roll 3.

Secured, as by screws, to the inwardly facing surfaces of end flanges 21, 2-2, of the bearing members 7 and 8; are a pair of flanges 23 and 24which serve to support in a manner presently made clear the remainingomp n o e P nt as embly lu i a feed roll 25, a paint or ink tank 26, asqueegee 27 and a wiper squeegee 28. These components are supported asfollows.

The tank 26 rests upon a pair of horizontally pro ecting brackets 31 and32 secured to the respective plates 23 and 24 (FIG. 2). Formed at thetop of the wall of tank 26 are a pair of oppositely positioned bearingsupports 34 and 35 open at the top and receiving therein the trunnionends 36 of a shaft on which the feed roll 25 is secured, so that saidfeed roll rotates in partly immersed condition within the tank. Securedon one projecting end of the shaft 36 beyond the related bearing support35 is a drive gear 37 meshing with a gear 38 secured on the shaft 4carrying the pattern cylinder 2 so as to be driven therefrom. Shaft 4 inturn is driven by way of a gear 41 secured on one end of it and meshingwith a drive gear, not shown, through a conventionalcircumferential-register indexing device, not illustrated, well-known inthe construction of rotary printing machines of this general class.

The squeegee 27 (FIG. 1) is mounted through a supporting part 43 securedto side plates 23, 24, while the wiper squeegee 28 in this example issimilarly secured to the sides of the tank 26.

For locating the printing cylinder core journal 6 in axial positionwithin the bearing member 8, there is provided on one side a shoulder 46of said journal engaging the inner face of member 8 and on the otherside a stop ring 47 secured to the journal 6 and engaging against theouter face of the bearing member. The opposite journal is displacedaxially with the related bearing member 7 since any axial movement ofthe sleeve 8 is transmitted through the reservoir 26 to the sleeve 7 andsuch simultaneous axial movement of both sleeves 7 and 8 is possibleonly when the arcuate supporting member for the sleeve 7 is freelymovable in the axial direction so that the sleeve 7 and its arcutesupporting member will move axially when sleeve 8 is moved axially uponaxial adjustment of its arcute supporting member.

To accomplish axial registery between the printing cylinder 2 supportedon the core 4, and the work, there is provided a generally conventionalaxial adjusting mechanism for the bearing member 8, as schematicallyshown in FIG. 3, comprising a threaded shank 51 extending through acomplementarily threaded hole formed in a boss 52 of the cariage 13, theshank 51 having its inner end connected for axial displacement but notfor rotation with the cradling member 14. In the embodiment theconnection between the threaded shank and the cradle 14 is provided asshown in FIG. 4 which is an enlarged view. The smooth end of shank 51extends into a recess of the cradle member 14 and has an annular groove55 formed in it, which groove is engaged in tangential relation by a pin54 extending through a transverse hole formed in cradle 14. Thus theshank 51 is free to rotate relatively to the carriage and cradle 14while being connected for bodily axial displacement together with it. Byrotating the shank 51, as by means of a wrench acting on a hexagonalhead secured to the outer end of the shank, the cradle 14 is shiftedtransversely across the related carriage 13 in either direction and thebearing member 8 and core 4 are shifted by a corresponding amount in thesame axial direction, whereby the desired axial register can be achievedbetween the pattern cylinder 2 and the work. During such adjustingdisplacements the other journal 5 of the pattern cylinder willautomatically shift of itself within its bearing member 7 withoutdeveloping any strains within the printing cylinder. 7

After the registering adjustments have been completed the adjustedposition is indexed through suitable indexing mechanism as shown in FIG.2 and including an index member 69 (provided with Vernier means ifdesired), extending from the bearing member 8 and movable in front of acalibrated scale 61 extending from the related bracket 1 of the frame.The scale posit1on of index member can be noted after removal of theprinting cylinder 2 so that when said cylinder is repositioned on themachine, it will simply be necessary to 16:8.djllSt the bearing member 8to such a position that Index 60 again indicates the previously notedcalibration on scale 61.

It will be understood that in cases where 1t 1s contemplated that thesequence in which the various pattern cylinders of the machine aremounted may be altered as for varying the colour scheme on the machine,1t would be necessary that the calibrated scales such as 61 serving toindex the axial registering adjustments of the respective printingcylinders should all be aligned in a common plane normal to the axis ofthe central backing cylinder.

With the arrangement described, on removal of a pattern cylinder withboth its bearing members, all of the other associated components,described above, are simultaneously removed since all said componentsare sup ported from the side plates 23 and 24 respectively secured tothe bearing members 7 and 8 in which the pattern cyinder is journalled.This feature greatly expedites and facilitates dismantling andremounting operations, and avoids destroying the axial registeradjusting on dismantling.

The form of embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 differs from the onejust described in two features. While both features have been shownapplied concurrently for illustrative purposes, it will be understoodthat they are actually independent of one another and may Well be usedseparately. The first of these features is that the hydraulic jacks suchas 16a serving to urge the printing cylinder 2 against the backingroll3, are dis posed between the cylinder 2 and the axis of the backingroll, so that they operate by a pulling rather than by a thrustingaction this arrangement being substantially similar to that described inFrench Patent 1,202,873 filed February 14, 1958, to which reference maybe had for a more detailed description of this particular feature.

With this arrangement, the pattern cylinder and its core 4 can veryeasily be removed from the machine by first swinging the cover 71 ofcarriage 72 to its open position (shown in chain lines in FIG. 5), andthen withdrawing the assembly including the printing cylinder 2 and itscore in the forward direction. It is noted that the carriage 72 supportsthe bearing member and forms part of the hydraulic jack assembly 1611.

In this embodiment the tank, feed roll with its drive gear, and thesqueegees 27 and 28 are all mounted in substantially the same way as inthe first embodiment and have been designated by the same referencenumbers. The bodily removal of the components is thus effected in thesame way as earlier described.

The second point of difference of the embodiment being described lies inthe axial register adjusting meclia) nism used, as shown in FIG. 6, suchadjustment rather than being effected by a displacement of a bearingmember in its support, is performed by axial displacement of the journal6a of printing cylinder core 4 relatively to its bearing member 8a. Forthis purpose the journal 6a is arranged to be axially slidable withinits bearing a distance amply sufiicient to provide for any axialregistering adjustments that may be required to be performed. Suchadjustment in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 6 is shown as beingeffected by means of a handwheel 81 having an externaly threaded hub 82engaged in a threaded bore 83 of bearing member 8a. The outer end ofjournal 6a is connected for axial displacement but not for rotation withthe hub of the handwheel, the connection being here shown as comprisinga dual ball thrust bearing having an intermediate race 84 secured to thejournal 6a while its outer races 85 and 86 are secured to the hub 82 ofthe handwheel. A set screw 87 makes it possible to block the handwheelin any adjusted position.

When handwheel 81 is rotated in either direction the hub 82 is moved inor out of the bearing member 8a and the journal 6a is displaced axiallyin the same direction and by an equal amount.

This axial registering displacement is especially advantageous since itmakes it possible to preserve the adjustment of the printing cylindersregardless of how many times they may be removed from the machine and ofhow many different printing cylinders requiring different axialadjustments may have to be mounted between the times a given cylinder isremoved and replaced. Since the bearings are always mounted in a fixedaxial position relative to the machine frame, and since the axialregistering adjustment is effected by relative displacement between theprinting cylinder core and the bearing, such adjustment will bepreserved, since the bearing and its journal are not separated the onefrom the other on removal of the whole sub-assembly from the machine.Care should of course be taken not to remove the pattern cylinder fromits core.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificembodiments thereof illustrated and described and that manymodifications may be made therein depending on the particularapplications desired, without exceeding the scope of the invention.Thus, the invention is applicable to any type of rotary printing machineusing intaglio or half-tone or other type of printing rollers orcylinders. Also, while there was described a first embodiment using oneform of axial regis ter adjustment in combination with acylinder-applying jack operating by pushing action and a secondembodiment using another form of axial register adjustment incombination with a cylinder-applying jack operating by pulling action,it will be evident that the type of axial registering adjustmentmechanism used is not dependent on the type of jack operation and thatthe two features may therefore be interchanged as between the twoembodiments. Other possible modifications will readily appear.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for printing on a web of material comprising a frame; abacking roll mounted on the frame and adapted to receive said webtherearound; at least one bodily detachable printing assembly comprisinga printing cylinder having a pair of opposite journals, bearing membersrotatably surrounding the respective journals, a pair of parallel spacedplates secured to inner sides of the respective bearing members andextending transverse to the cylinder on opposite sides thereof, aprinting fluid tank removably supported from said plates, a supply rollrotatably supported across said plates in contact with said cylinder anddipping in said tank, and squeegee means supported from said plates andengaging said cylinder; bearing supports on the frame adapted to receivethe bearing members of a printing assembly removably five to thecylinder journals and said axial adjusting means comprising means foradjusting the axial position of said bearing members relative to thebearing supports, and means for indexing the adjusted position thereof.

2. In a rotary printing machine having a backing cylinder, at least onemobile printing unit including a printing roll mounted on a rotaryshaft, a pair of spaced bearing sleeves on said shaft, an ink reservoirhaving two opposite side walls attached to the inner ends of saidsleeves so as to maintain the latter in fixed axially spacedrelationship on said shaft, and means carried by said reservoir forcontinuously inking said printing roll, means including two spaced slideblocks for urging said sleeves radially towards said backing cylinder,an arcuate member carried by each slide block for removably supportingsaid sleeves, and means for adjusting said shaft lengthwise relative tosaid slide blocks.

3. In a rotary printing machine having a backing cylinder, at least onemobile printing unit including a printing roll mounted on a rotaryshaft, a pair of spaced bearing sleeves on said shaft, means forpreventing axial movement of one of said sleeves relative to said shaft,an ink reservoir suspended between said sleeves so as to maintain thelatter in fixed axially spaced relation on said shaft, and means carriedby said reservoir for continuously inking said printing roll, meansincluding two spaced slide blocks for urging said sleeves radiallytowards said backing cylinder, an arcuate member carried by each slideblock for removably supporting said sleeves, each arcuate supportingmember being guided on the corresponding slide block for horizontaltransverse movement relative to the slide block, means for preventingaxial movement of one of said sleeves relative to its arcuate supportingmember, and means supported by one of said slide blocks and connected tothe arcuate supporting member carried thereby for adjusting said mobileprinting unit lengthwise relative to said slide blocks.

4. In a rotary printing machine having a backing cylinder, at least onemobile printing unit including a printing roll mounted on a rotaryshaft, a pair of spaced bearing sleeves slidable on said shaft, an inkreservoir suspended from the inner ends of said sleeves to maintain thelatter in fixed axially spaced relation on said shaft, and means carriedby said reservoir for continuously inking said printing roll, meansincluding two spaced slide blocks for urging said sleeves radiallytowards said backing cylinder, an arcuate member carried by each slideblock for removably supporting said sleeves while preventing axialmovement thereof relative to said shaft, and means mounted at the outerend of one of said sleeves and drivingly connected to the correspondingend of said shaft for adjusting the latter lengthwise relative to saidreservoir.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,868,385 Greenwood July 19, 1932 2,309,646 Jacobson Feb. 2, 19432,321,329 Stafford et al. June 8, 1943 2,988,989 Crawford June 20, 19613,063,368 Liessern Nov. 13, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 267,211 Great BritainMar. 8, 1927 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIONPatent No. 3,161,127 December 15, 1964 Jean Lime It is hereby certifiedthat error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction andthat the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

In the grant, lines l to 3,, for "Jean Lime, of Haut-Rliine, France,assignor to Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mechaniques, ofHaut-Rhine, France, read Jean Lime, of

Haut-Rhin, France, assignor to Societe Alsacienne de ConstructionsMecaniques, of Haut-Rhin, France, line 12,

for "Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mechaniques, its successors"read Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques, its successors inthe heading to the printed specification, lines 4 to 6, for "Jean LimeHaut-Rhine, France, assignor to Societe Alsacienne de ConstructionsMechaniques, Haut-Rhine, France" read Jean Lime, Haut-Rhin, France,assignor to Societe Alsacienne de Constructions Mecaniques,

- Haut-Rhin, France Signed and sealed this 3rd day of August 1965.

(SEAL) ATTEST:

ERNEST W. SWIDER EDWARD J. BRENNER Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents

1. A MACHINE FOR PRINTING ON A WEB OF MATERIAL COMPRISING A FRAME; ABACKING ROLL MOUNTED ON THE FRAME AND ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID WEBTHEREAROUND; AT LEAST ONE BODILY DETACHABLE PRINTING ASSEMBLY COMPRISINGA PRINTING CYLINDER HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSITE JOURNALS, BEARING MEMBERSROTATABLY SURROUNDING THE RESPECTIVE JOURNALS, A PAIR OF PARALLEL SPACEDPLATES SECURED TO INNER SIDES OF THE RESPECTIVE BEARING MEMBERS ANDEXTENDING TRANSVERSE TO THE CYLINDER ON OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF, APRINTING FLUID TANK REMOVABLY SUPPORTED FROM SAID PLATES, A SUPPLY ROLLROTATABLY SUPPORTED ACROSS SAID PLATES IN CONTACT WITH SAID CYLINDER ANDDIPPING IN SAID TANK, AND SQUEEGEE MEANS SUPPORTED FROM SAID PLATES ANDENGAGING SAID CYLINDER; BEARING SUPPORTS ON THE FRAME ADAPTED TO RECEIVETHE BEARING MEMBERS OF A PRINTING ASSEMBLY REMOVABLY THEREIN; MEANS ONTHE FRAME OPERATIVE TO ENGAGE AN ASSEMBLY IN THE MOUNTED CONDITIONTHEREOF TO DRIVE THE CYLINDER IN ROTATION AND TO URGE THE CYLINDERAGAINST THE ROLL; MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE AXIAL POSITION OF THE PRINTINGCYLINDER OF THE MOUNTED ASSEMBLY RELATIVE TO THE FRAME INCLUDING MEANSFOR INDEXING THE ADJUSTED POSITION, SAID BEARING MEMBERS BEING FIXED INAXIAL POSITION RELATIVE TO THE CYLINDER JOURNALS AND SAID AXIALADJUSTING MEANS COMPRISING MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE AXIAL POSITION OFSAID BEARING MEMBERS RELATIVE TO THE BEARING SUPPORTS, AND MEANS FORINDEXING THE ADJUSTED POSITION THEREOF.